writer | naturalist | lover of parks & wild lands

Read More …

“Owens Viani and the Randall familyhad expected to see the young Cooper’s Hawks fledge and go on their way. They hadn’t expected to find one of the juveniles sprawled dead on the concrete, the victim of a massive hemorrhage.

“The culprit behind the gruesome death was a rat poison called brodifacoum, according to tests contracted by WildCare, a Marin County wildlife rehabilitation group. One of a group of killing agents known as second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides, brodifacoum is one of the most widely used rat poisons in America.”

“‘Interdisciplinary collaboration’ is a hot topic in academia and in park management circles, and with good reason: it promises a multiplicity of viewpoints and a balance of perspectives representative of different stakeholders. Yet true interdisciplinary collaboration is difficult to accomplish.”

“Every autumn, thousands of migrating snow geese take a break from their 5,000-mile southbound migration to rest and feed at Dead Creek Wildlife Management Area in Addison. Journeying from their breeding grounds on the Arctic tundra to their winter range in the mid-Atlantic and southeastern states, the snow geese are but fleeting visitors to the Green Mountain State, descending on our cornfields from October into early November.”

“After a night spent deeply burrowed into the warmth of my down sleeping bag, I wake to discover that my tent has abruptly transformed itself from a cozy refuge to a swelteringly confined space. The sun has only just cleared the ridgeline of Cirque Peak, but its rays are strong here at 11,000 feet above sea level, and my little tent heats up like a greenhouse.”